Yelena Baturina

"When you are in the middle of running a business nobody is interested whether you are a man or a woman. I am, however, convinced that in order to be a success, a woman needs to be head and shoulders above her male partners and competitors."

"In one way or another I have always been engaged in production. I was among one of the first entrepreneurs to start building their own private enterprise when Perestroika began in Russia and the state initiated its first market-oriented reforms."

"To be frank, sometimes I was quite glad businessmen didn't take me seriously enough. Occasionally I even found it amusing when some businessmen would be more relaxed during negotiations, which I think served as an advantage. In such cases I of course did my best to make the most of the situation."